Saturday, January 10
Santa Barbara, Calif.
9:30 p.m.
Purdue Fort Wayne
1-2
1
at
3
UC Santa Barbara
4-0
1
2
3
4
F
IPFW
20
26
28
24
1
UCSB
25
24
30
26
3
Photo by: Lucas Carter
Men's Volleyball Battles in Loss to Fourth Ranked Gauchos
1/11/2015 12:18:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - In a battle against the fourth ranked UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, the 15th ranked IPFW men's volleyball team battled to a 3-1 loss, with three of the four sets needing more than the typical 25 points to win a set, 25-20, 24-26, 30-28, 26-24 in the Mastodons' final match of the Asics Invitational, hosted by the Gauchos.
The match against a nationally ranked team was the Mastodons' third to open the season, as four of the team's first five matches of the 2015 season will be against teams ranked in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) poll.
Andrew Sellan led the team with 17 kills while Alex Harthaller added 11, Ramon Burgos nine, and Bryan Saunders 8. Omar Rivera dished out 44 assists, while Harthaller had two of the team's four service aces.
Defensively, Sellan dug up 10 kill attempts for the double-double, while Luis Bertran also had 10 digs and Harthaller nine. Burgos had five blocks, and four others - Sellan, Harthaller, Saunders, and Rivera - had three blocks apiece.
The Mastodons never led in the opening set, a 25-20 Gaucho win; however, IPFW answered back in a big way in the 26-24 second-set win.
A back-and-forth third set followed, as the Mastodons were edged out 30-28 in the marathon set of the match. In the fourth set IPFW jumped ahead 15-13 and 21-18; however, the Gauchos fought back and out-scored IPFW 8-3 the rest of the set in securing the victory in their own tournament.
The Mastodons return to Fort Wayne for the program's 2015 home opening weekend with matches against St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday, January 16 and against No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, January 17 - both matches starting at 7 p.m.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
The match against a nationally ranked team was the Mastodons' third to open the season, as four of the team's first five matches of the 2015 season will be against teams ranked in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) poll.
Andrew Sellan led the team with 17 kills while Alex Harthaller added 11, Ramon Burgos nine, and Bryan Saunders 8. Omar Rivera dished out 44 assists, while Harthaller had two of the team's four service aces.
Defensively, Sellan dug up 10 kill attempts for the double-double, while Luis Bertran also had 10 digs and Harthaller nine. Burgos had five blocks, and four others - Sellan, Harthaller, Saunders, and Rivera - had three blocks apiece.
The Mastodons never led in the opening set, a 25-20 Gaucho win; however, IPFW answered back in a big way in the 26-24 second-set win.
A back-and-forth third set followed, as the Mastodons were edged out 30-28 in the marathon set of the match. In the fourth set IPFW jumped ahead 15-13 and 21-18; however, the Gauchos fought back and out-scored IPFW 8-3 the rest of the set in securing the victory in their own tournament.
The Mastodons return to Fort Wayne for the program's 2015 home opening weekend with matches against St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday, January 16 and against No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, January 17 - both matches starting at 7 p.m.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
Team Stats
IPFW
UCSB
Kills
55
55
Errors
29
22
Attempts
142
131
Hitting %
.183
.252
Points
69.0
77.0
Assists
49
51
Aces
4
8
Blocks
10.0
14.0
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballPFW vs Maryville (Men's Volleyball)
Tuesday, March 11
PFW vs Thomas More (Mens Volleyball)
Friday, March 07
PFW vs Lindenwood (Mens Volleyball)
Friday, February 28
PFW vs Queens (Mens Volleyball)
Thursday, February 13
